WIP OMG

Photo Credit - AllMotivated.com

Isn't it weird how acronyms are taking over the world? We've become so obsessed with saving time, that speaking and typing full words are too bothersome.

*le sigh*

Okay, I didn't come here to rant. Not today, anyway.

I'm here to give you an update on a commitment I made WAY back in January, to write 500 words every day. You remember, a little challenge called #WIP500!

So like most resolutions  unresolutions, I came out of the starting gates like a bat outta Hell. Pfft 500 words?! Dude I 'll do 600 or 1,000 or maybe 3,000! I was feeling all smug, basking in my own awesomeness (not that I would actually do that) and thinking Damn I could do this all year long - NO problem.

Can you say famous last words?

So the third week of January hits and my real life commitments start building up again after the Christmas and New Year hangover. (I'm not talking drinking here people) All of the sudden I'm struggling to write anything. Sure I was still blogging. Sure I was participating in Five Sentence Fiction, but I wasn't working on my WIP. Not getting in those 500 words per day done.

Houston, we have a problem.

I managed to stay afloat by banking a few extra words when I did get a chance to write, but then it happened.

DUN DUN DUN!!!

I logged into Cara Michael's website and received the electronic equivalent of a bitch slap (sorry for the vulgar language it seems appropriate here.) I had slipped below the accumulated total. Granted it wasn't by much. I think my percentage said I was at 98.42% which is still really awesome, but I was used to seeing that percentage WAY higher. I liked thinking I was giving more than 100%. Made me feel awesome. 98.42% is a fantastic number and seriously if I had scored those kind of stats in school...well, let's just say I'd be doing a lot better for myself right now. Or not, it's hard to tell. The point is, I was behind and I wasn't happy about it.

So yesterday I took my lovely MacBook Pro to work and clicked away at those keys all lunch to get them 500 words, and I did it. Today I managed 500 words too. I may not be getting the 600 or 1,000 or 3,000 words a day like I did before, but hey, it's called #WIP500 not.....

#WIP-as-many-words-as-you-can-before-you-fall-over-in-exhaustion. 

Just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

Are You Participating in #WIP500? How Are You Managing?

2012 - Off to a Good Start

Photo Credit

Yesterday not only marked the first day of 2012, it also marked day one of the #WIP500 challenge. A much more exciting prospect, Id say.

If you read my last couple posts, then you know I set myself the UnResolution to write at least 500 words every day in 2012. It's not so much the number of words that pose a challenge, but the task of writing every day.

With enthusiasm, I took to my laptop and typed out not just the 500 required words, but 4,133! Yes, day one of #WIP500 proved to be lucrative. It also proved to:

a) Ruin my back to the point where I resorted to over the counter drugs to ease the pain.

b) Ensure that the pesky cold I have been fighting for nearly a week remains firmly nestled in my chest.

c) Leave my eyes feeling as though someone had squeezed them to the point of bursting.

All in the name of writing. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, it was absolutely worth it!

Sadly, today is the last day of my holidays before I head back to work. I'm trying to ignore the simple fact that writing 4,133 words a day is not something I'll be accomplishing often. Once the pressures of routine life hit, I'll be lucky to reach that daily 500 word target. But for now, I am going to bask in the sweet success that January 1st afforded and hope that January 2nd is equally as kind.

 Are you participating in #WIP500?